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Saturday, March 26, 2011

Six Word Saturday

I will refrain from writing what I really think because my children read my blog. Suffice to say that I was saying lots of swear words last night when my computer went into meltdown.

I was innocently browsing clipart websites when this nasty beast called 'System Defender' launched it's attack. It very cleverly mimics the Windows icon and the 'my computer' screen and flicks up warnings of multiple trojans and infections on your system. It recommends that you download 'System Defender' to remove the trojans and infections' (at a cost of course). I declined this option, yet it installed itself on my computer complete with desktop shortcut.

A scan with my own virus protection software failed to detect or remove it. You are also unable to remove it from your program files because it remains hidden.

My quick thinking, computer savvy 13 year old son suggested googling the problem to find out how to remove it. Easier said than done though because my computer was doing seriously wierd things. Yet, I did eventually find numerous warnings and solutions and a rapid download of software called 'StopZilla' has blasted the beast from my system. (At a cost of $29.95 mind you and three hours of lost time later)

It did find 3 versions of the beast and once it quarantined it then my virus software picked up 5 trojans on my computer. Excuse the cynic in me that wonders whether these companies actually create the viruses and infections so you have no option but to purchase a solution.

I'm as annoyed as hell that I lost several valuable hours of writing time but also am extremely thankful that I bought a portable hard drive several weeks ago. Not that I needed it, but it was reassuring to know that I had backed up my laptop.

People who create computer viruses or the like should be hung up and shot. Nasty and malicious individuals the lot of them. What are your thoughts?

Want to play along with Six Word Saturday, it's easy? All that's necessary to participate is to describe your life (or something) in a phrase using just six words. For more information, try clicking here. Feel free to explain or not explain. Add an image, a video, a song, nothing.

I think computer viruses should count as life. I think it says something about human nature that the only form of life we have created so far is purely destructive. We've created life in our own image ~ Stephen Hawking - Physicist